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Spain considers banning smoking on outdoor bar terraces
The Spanish Health Ministry is also looking at prohibiting cigarettes and vapes on beaches and in private cars
The ban on smoking on outdoor terraces of bars and restaurants was one of the most controversial safety measures of the Covid pandemic, but the Ministry of Health in Spain intends to resurrect this rule soon as part of the Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking 2021-2025, which the government has been working on for three years now.
Smoking outside hospitality establishments is likely to be the first issue tackled by new ministry head Mónica García, but she’s unlikely to stop there. While there’s still no date for the implementation of the measures, the government has already commissioned a report from the National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking (CNPT) to analyse the public areas which can most affectively be made smoke-free.
Following the lead of other countries like France and the UK, Spain will also unleash a raft of new regulations surrounding vapes and e-cigarettes, focusing especially on disposable devices.
The Ministry of Health is also said to be studying a document published by the CNPT and 70 other scientific societies some time ago, which points to the spaces in which they consider that the ban on tobacco should be implemented.
This report speaks of "100% smoke-free hospitality in both indoor and outdoor spaces (including terraces)", something that the government is already pushing ahead with, but it also adds several more areas, including sports venues, university campuses, bus stops and train platforms.
It also suggests banning smoking within 10 metres of schools, hospitals and the entrances to shopping centres, as well as restrictions on lighting up on beaches and other natural spaces where people gather.
Controversially, the proposal now being studied by Spain also recommends a blanket ban on tobacco use in private vehicles, a move that was tabled a few years ago but which was met with fierce opposition from human rights groups.
For now, while the Ministry of Health looks poised to prohibit smoking on bar terraces in the near future, it remains to be seen which of the stricter measures, if any, will be adopted in Spain.
Image: Freepik
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